The international team of 16 players – all of whom play in the Russian Super League – included U.S. starters Lloy Ball (Fort Wayne, Ind.) at setter, Clay Stanley (Honolulu) at opposite and Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) at libero. The international team also started Brazil’s Gilberto “Giba” Godoy Filho and Dante Amaral along with Vladimir Titarenko of Ukraine and Italy’s Hristo Zlatanov. All but Titarenko competed at the 2008 Olympic Games where the United States took the gold and Brazil won silver.

U.S. outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) and setter Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) both played in the match as substitutes while Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.) and Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) were on the roster but did not play.

The Russian team included nine Olympians, including starters Semen Poltavskiy, Alexander Kosarev, Sergey Tetyukhin and Vadim Khamuttskikh. Russia won the bronze medal in Beijing.

Five of the international all-stars scored five points each, including Priddy, who had five kills, and Stanley, who had four kills and one ace.

Russia’s Maxim Mikhaylov led all scorers with 12 points on eight kills and four aces.

Greek news services report that the Greek Cup final between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, scheduled to take place Feb. 1, had to be postponed due to “crowd trouble.”

Olympiacos is the team of U.S. middle hitter and team captain Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.)

According to the English edition of Kathimerini: “Panathinaikos refused to begin the game unless the arena in Patras, which was hosting the final, was cleared of supporters because of fears for the safety of players. The police refused to remove supporters without the help of Olympiakos officials, who said they did not want their fans to be forced to leave. There had been clashes inside and outside the stadium.”

Hellenic Volleyball Federation officials met for four hours on Feb. 2 and determined that the final would be played in front of pupils and junior athletes from volleyball clubs.

"The match will be, contrary to what violent people would like, a celebration of the sport, with pupils and club athletes invited to attend it," the federation said in its statement issued on Feb. 2.

A time and place for the final was not announced.

Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are scheduled to play each other on Feb. 11 and 19, as part of the CEV Cup.

In 2007, fan clashes prior to a women’s volleyball match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos resulted in a fan death, causing Greece to suspend all of its team sports leagues for two weeks.

Touzinsky scored 16 points on 15 kills and one ace while Millar had 14 points on 11 kills, two blocks and one ace.

Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediye is in second place in the Turkish league with a 12-3 record. Halkbank is in third at 11-4. Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediye will face first-place and undefeated Arkas Spor in its next match.

Brook Billings (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and his Turkish league team Fenerbahçe pulled of a 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 17-25, 15-8) victory over Ziraat Bankas? on Feb. 1. Billings scored four points on three kills and one block.

MEVA

ACH Volley, which includes U.S. middle blocker Phil Eatherton (Glencoe, Mo.), remains undefeated at 13-0 in the Middle European Volleyball Association with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-16) defeat of the Aon hotVolleys on Jan. 31. Eatherton scored six points on two kills and two blocks in the match.